Children’s Hospital of Ireland – Travel Time Surveys

The proposed location for the Children’s Hospital of Ireland at the Mater Campus, Eccles Street, Dublin 7 meant that detailed information regarding travel times to the site would be crucial in terms of highlighting the sites accessibility. As a result, OCSC were commissioned by The National Paediatric Hospital Board to carry out a detailed analysis of travel times to and from the site.

The approach for this project consisted of two methods. Primarily, OCSC staff carried out a number of drive time surveys which began at a point where each of the major routes into Dublin (M1, N2, N3, N4, N7 and N81) met the M50 and continued as far as the Mater Campus. These surveys were carried out during both peak and off peak hours. The results were assessed using a formula taken from the DMRB guidance for the Accuracy of Local Journey Time Surveys. In total, OCSC carried out 119 of these surveys in order to obtain results within ±10% accuracy at a 95% confidence level. To facilitate a fully comprehensive analysis, OCSC commissioned a specialist contractor to estimate travel times during peak and off peak hours using a combination of specific software and on-site data. The information received also included Isochrone Maps which detailed the various travel times from various locations across Dublin.

The results of both methods were compiled and compared in a detailed report which included a complete breakdown of all information gathered and each methodology used. This allowed a number of accurate and validated estimates for travel times to the proposed development site to be established.